livin' it up, spain style.

So I started off this past week with a new appreciation for the city I’m living in. Barcelona was great, but I don’t think I could pull off living there. Salamanca is a pretty good size for me. Also, I had been pretty down since I got here just about the general feel of the city, like the fact that no one smiles, no one laughs, no one seems to be happy in the street. However, Wednesday in between classes I was walking around campus and ran into this guy with a red shirt and a painted face. He came up to me and told me to give him a smile and then handed me a flyer. The flyer talked about smiling and how it can change things and how it doesn’t cost anything or take any effort to do, but that it can change someone’s day for the better. It’s little things like that that really lift my spirit- that a group of students see a need and want to change things, even if it’s just to try to get people to smile on their campus. So that’s another thing about Salamanca that I’m happy with. Also I saw this stencil on a wall near campus. It says ‘Lo Esencial Es Invisible a Los Ojos;- basically saying, that which is essential, or what makes you who you are, is not what’s on the outside, but what is on the inside.

i love stenciling


Also, the other day I saw this advertisement for what I assume is some kind of Intl Org working for literacy for people who can’t read. It says, ‘You know how to read, they don’t. We can change it.”

manos unidas

I LOVE stuff like that around the city!

I only had three days of classes this week. It’s going well, I’m very happy with my art and phonetics class. Cinema’s work is starting to pile on, but I’m really happy about that. As for Civ, it’s still pretty bad, but I can make the best of it. By the way, here’s a picture of what I see when I look out my classroom windows, if you were wondering… Pretty sweet, huh?

view #1

view #2

I got to take a lot of walks this week and I had a lot of time to just look around the city. I have a few hour breaks between classes, so that makes for a good time getting lost for 25 min and then trying to find my way back.

cathedral right outside our classes.

Thursday in between classes I ventured into a little shop on a side road and made quite possibly my best purchase since I arrived. I got a new Salamanca sweatshirt for less than 3 euro. The 3 euro could have something to do with the fact that the sweatshirt has been in the store since 1987. Can you tell by the colors?? Now I have something to wear to all the 80’s parties when I get back.

i'm clearly going to be the coolest kid at school

So Thursday night we went to En Vivo. The first time was a little overwhelming, but this week I was a little more prepared and I knew a few more people, so it was a lot more fun. There are so many people from all over and everyone is so welcoming and friendly. I met up with Hannah there, who’s becoming a good buddy of mine and met a few friends of her. Our friend Mike, who’s in our program, came with us, so that was cool. He doesn’t really fit in with all the guys in our program, aka- he’s not an obnoxious, rude drunk. So that’s fun. We went out with Magari and Jessica after En Vivo just for a little bit, but had to get home early cause of class the next day.

Friday we had class and then by 1 we were done. Laura and I walked around Calle Toro, the shopping street in Salamanca, looking for shoes. The new thing here this season is poka-dots, and we had seen some pretty cute flats in a few shops and wanted to check them out. But alas, they were too expensive and not sturdy enough for walking around Salamanca, so we said no. Next was lunch, then nap time, then Laura came back over and we sat inside and chatted it up. It was rainy and cold all day so we tried not to go outside.

Friday night we met up with Magari and Jessica to go out. It was Magari’s last night in Salamanca, so we all wanted to spend the last night together. She left on Saturday morning to go back to Switzerland for a week and then she’s headed to Costa Rica to work in an orphanage for 4 months. Gosh, can I join??

jessica and magari

mags and me before a big night out

So all of us girls and Mike went from place to place enjoying all that Salamanca’s night life has to offer. We, of course, ended our night at Camelot, the best place for dancing. We found Baker and John Michael, two guys from our program, on the street and brought them in with us. They boys sure are funny to watch.

mike and stacy breaking it down

We saw our friend Fabio, who we met at En Vivo, at Camelot too and found out he works there, which is great for us, because that means free whatever we want-which for me just means bottled water. So we all got home way too late on Friday night and Maggie and I proceeded to sleep in later than I care to tell you on Saturday morning.

So really, Saturday entailed nothing much. We found a cute little internet café in the afternoon that is run by an even cuter Taiwanese woman named Yori. So Maggie and I were there for just a little bit. Then was dinner, in which we were joined by a girl who lived with Rosa last semester. Lindsay is from N. Carolina and goes to Wake Forrest, so we all hung out for a bit. Then we met up with Hannah and her totally British friend Shaun and we went out to this quiet little bar/cafe. Walking there, I was talking with Hannah the whole time, and I just couldn’t’ stand the sound of my own voice and accent as I talked with her. I could just listen to her smooth, soothing British voice forever. We were all really tired and had planned to just go home after that, but of course, we ended up at Camelot, yet again and danced for a while.

Sunday morning came quite early, as I didn’t get nearly enough sleep the night before, but it was started with probably the best thing I could ever have wished for. Alyssa, this American I met at our church, had invited Hannah and me over for the morning for breakfast and to talk and pray together. It was so wonderful. They are both fabulous young women and it was such a blessed thing for me to be able to share my heart with people who had just met me, but still love me to death.

alyssa and hannah

I am so thankful for this; we’re planning on doing it each week. And not only did I have great fellowship, but Alyssa is a total health nut, so I got to eat strawberries and oaty cereal with soy milk for breakfast! It was like Christmas! And Alyssa has the most amazing view of the city from her terrace. It’s just red roofs for miles and miles! (well sort of)

view from alyssa's apt.

So after that amazing start to the day, I went home and ate lunch with the fam, then Laura came over and we went running in the park. It was sunny and nearly warm, perfect for running in a park. So after that I went to church with the girls, went and talked with Hannah, Maggie and Alyssa a little more and then went home for dinner, which was……PIZZA! So really, it was a great day. Great fellowship, great weather, and great food.